18th March
I have managed to press through the throngs of Sunday evening passegiatta to arrive at Luca Signorelli Bar which is my nightly place to hangout and do my correspondence. I can't imagine where all the people suddenly came from. This afternoon there was barely a soul in Cortona and now Via Nationale is crowded with all sorts of groups -families, young boys and girls, old signore and signora and the rest.
Luca Sigmorelli Bar reminds me of Johnny's Green Room in Carlton.
There are lots of men playing billiards, cards and other games. It must be a men's club. They have an 'Internet Point' here which hardly is ever used and is the cheapest in town. BTW Signorelli was a famous Rennaisance painter who was born in Cortona. I saw some of his paintings today at the Diocese Museum. All religious, but beautiful.
There were some other famous works by Fra Angelico and others too.
One was a beautiful picture called 'the Annunciation'.
I have adopted the Slow Travel philosophy and am staying longer than planned in Cortona. I have decided to skip San Gimignano and go from here to Montepulciano and then to Montalcino, both in Southern Tuscany.
I have spent the last couple of days walking out of the town and along the 'white roads' which are rarely used by cars. Today I came across a little bar in a village called Torreone, where I sat for about an hour drinking a cuppuccino and reading my book 'I'm Not Scared' by Niccolo Ammaniti. It's set in Sicily, but seems really appropriate for my current Italian mindset. I recommend the book,it's very simply written almost for children but with a universal theme.
I have watched a bit of TV and each night there has been a newsclip about Melbourne -the Grand Prix and the swimming championships. Borat is showing at the local cinema. I was tempted to go and see it but everything is dubbed so I wouldn't understand the punchlines.
I am enjoying the food you can buy in the Alimentare and bars and cafes, but I don't seem to make it to the places where they serve typical local food. I have discovered that the osteria are the places I should look for - they are not as expensive as the ristorante. I have been taking a can of tuna and a tub of yoghurt for my lunch. I usually go to a bar about 5pm and have something like brushetta. Yesterday I had bruschetta classico. It must have had about 2 punnets of chopped cherry tomatoes as well as mozarrella and basil on about 4 pieces of bread with oil. I think that cost about E5
($9) and in a nice place too.
I have managed to press through the throngs of Sunday evening passegiatta to arrive at Luca Signorelli Bar which is my nightly place to hangout and do my correspondence. I can't imagine where all the people suddenly came from. This afternoon there was barely a soul in Cortona and now Via Nationale is crowded with all sorts of groups -families, young boys and girls, old signore and signora and the rest.
Luca Sigmorelli Bar reminds me of Johnny's Green Room in Carlton.
There are lots of men playing billiards, cards and other games. It must be a men's club. They have an 'Internet Point' here which hardly is ever used and is the cheapest in town. BTW Signorelli was a famous Rennaisance painter who was born in Cortona. I saw some of his paintings today at the Diocese Museum. All religious, but beautiful.
There were some other famous works by Fra Angelico and others too.
One was a beautiful picture called 'the Annunciation'.
I have adopted the Slow Travel philosophy and am staying longer than planned in Cortona. I have decided to skip San Gimignano and go from here to Montepulciano and then to Montalcino, both in Southern Tuscany.
I have spent the last couple of days walking out of the town and along the 'white roads' which are rarely used by cars. Today I came across a little bar in a village called Torreone, where I sat for about an hour drinking a cuppuccino and reading my book 'I'm Not Scared' by Niccolo Ammaniti. It's set in Sicily, but seems really appropriate for my current Italian mindset. I recommend the book,it's very simply written almost for children but with a universal theme.
I have watched a bit of TV and each night there has been a newsclip about Melbourne -the Grand Prix and the swimming championships. Borat is showing at the local cinema. I was tempted to go and see it but everything is dubbed so I wouldn't understand the punchlines.
I am enjoying the food you can buy in the Alimentare and bars and cafes, but I don't seem to make it to the places where they serve typical local food. I have discovered that the osteria are the places I should look for - they are not as expensive as the ristorante. I have been taking a can of tuna and a tub of yoghurt for my lunch. I usually go to a bar about 5pm and have something like brushetta. Yesterday I had bruschetta classico. It must have had about 2 punnets of chopped cherry tomatoes as well as mozarrella and basil on about 4 pieces of bread with oil. I think that cost about E5
($9) and in a nice place too.
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